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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• All things blogging, social media, and marketing
• Austin food bloggers
• Food brand best practices

On this episode of the podcast all about food, Packing Taste, Axel is joined by Chelsea of @onechelofanadventure and Rachel of @austinfoodstagram. They’re both successful bloggers and influencers here in Austin. Rachel started her internet journey in 2014 taking pictures of what she was eating and posting them on her account. She is now known as one of the first Austin food Instagrammers. Chelsea got her start in a much different way. After graduating from college, she decided to move to Sydney, Australia, so she started using a website she made in school to blog as a way to stay connected to those back home. Without having the intention of becoming a blogger, her site quickly grew in popularity. Taking different paths, they both ended up becoming two influential Austin social media personalities.

The world we live in has become a digital one. Because of this, Rachel believes it is vital in this day in age for a food brand, or any brand for that matter, to have a strong online presence. Chelsea thinks that when a brand has a strong online presence that the consumer feels more connected to them. It helps them build who they are and show off their personality. When a consumer feels more connected with a brand they’re more likely to buy the products and interact with them.

One huge trend in food that Chelsea sees is the move away from plastic in packaged food and restaurants. She says that many bloggers will criticize companies if there aren’t obviously efforts in moving towards sustainability. Another trend is supporting local. She’s seen a rise in people advocating for supporting small and local businesses especially here in Austin. Rachel says she’s seen a growth in restaurants supporting and caring for their staff more instead of just treating them as employees.

Tune into Packing Taste to hear more from Rachel and Chelsea about what it’s like to be an influencer, how brands should create their online presence, marketing tips, and more! If you enjoy what you hear then be sure to share it with family and friends. You can listen to more Packing Taste here!

Host: Axel Brave

Guests: Chelsea Bancroft and Rachel Holtin

Transcript:

this is a founding media podcast if welcome to the packing tape podcast I’m your host axle love it this week we’re talking about all things blogging social media and marketing with local Austin influencers Rachel Holton of awesome food so Graham and Chelsea Bancroft of one hell of an adventure the two of them shared best practices that food brands can use to build an authentic presence and fan base they have some great advice and fun stories to share so I’ll let them tell you more
all right listeners welcome to another episode of packing taste I’m your host axle brother and today we have two lovely bloggers from Austin Texas we have Chelsea Bancroft who runs one shell of an adventure she is an Austin lawyer very successful and we also have Rachel Holton my pronouncing that correctly yeah that’s right hold on hold she is she runs Austin for Instagram or Austin foods to Graham yes days and there is always food and foods to Graham okay and she’s a food blogger also very very successful and we’re having them on the show today to obviously help me because I’m always looking for help but talk a little bit about having a good social media presence what it takes and how that’s looking like for the food sector
so my first question for you ladies it is explain to me what a blogger is like I don’t know what Instagram is so what will lead so I think the blogger is different than like not having an Instagram so blogging like usually entails having a website which we both do so you kind of you know I I started as travel and so I wrote about places that I was traveling to you and it kind of I mean I use mine and I know she does as well for you know helping people out so if someone wants to see where to go on a trip they can look at my website if they want some of the best recommendations in Austin for restaurants I got her down that’s kind of like how it is and then in an Instagram is an extension of the blogs so it’s kind of yeah they go hand in hand
yeah I think the term bloggers been around a lot longer people blogs for years and years and then social media is kind of amplified you know what a blogger is in is brought that to the forefront and made that kind of more of a career for people and a monetization channel but I would say like parking’s been around forever and it’s more you know the writing and that way I actually like thoughtfully you know sharing info and I think in streams taken off in this whole new way but yeah think when you’re right these you said it very well blogging has been around for a while and when I think of log in I would think of like typing in the website and reading a long ten page article about whatever travel or food but Instagram has kind of changed that because our attention spans are so small now and we need a quick dosages of of information right cool
so when when and how to deal start blogging R. A. K. can I called lions don’t get used okay so I started mine in may of twenty fourteen and started it through Instagram so I wouldn’t even call it blogging probably at that time but I was just instagramming where I was eating and I was one of the first food influencers to kind of start that at that time there weren’t really these dedicated accounts for food and fashion and travel like instruments still people are still figuring Instagram out if they wanted to even use that as a channel and I remember a lot of lawyers at the time were like and I don’t want to take my blog over to Instagram like I don’t think I need that and so it’s funny to see how far we’ve come now bad at that time I was just like well I love sharing food and in the anything of it I wasn’t necessarily even trying to grow an audience but I was spending a lot of time on the account Sherri images every day and then finding other people that were eating at these restaurants and then they started following me and kind of from there was fun it was a good game almost because people are like so excited about what I was saying and it encouraged me to do more of that and just kind of build this following so yeah I started
I started mine I already had a website because I had to do it something in class and I after I graduated I worked for a year and then I decide to move to Sydney Thailand in city for a year and I kind of read my blog to keep up with my friends and family back home I didn’t I didn’t even really like think of it as a thing that I wanted to do and then I started sharing and then kind of like right about it I don’t do anything half fast so that you can blog and it started to kind of kick off and then I actually you know dedicated myself like learn and actually do it and hearing today but I never set out to be a blogger I think it kind of just accidentally fell into it and it started out great the blogging life chooses you guys right and those twenty fifteen that you started that would have been twenty sixteen twenty sixteen okay and you yours is twenty fourteen twenty fourteen yeah may of twenty fourteen
so let’s just when Instagram was becoming cooler than Facebook right yeah I would say is that at that point it wasn’t a smoke at all I mean people are still skeptical the platform they were like how can a photo sharing platform that’s so simple and be you know the next Big Bang why would people want to you know get on here and people aren’t really sharing as much back then so yeah I was just kind of starting to take off from and not yet and did it the deal always love like sharing stories sharing what you’re seeing with your own eyes with friends family people around you because like I was telling you the your friend I met earlier she was telling me how she’s an introvert and she doesn’t like being around big crowds thank you three hundred thousand followers already yeah that is a crazy I think a lot of influencers and Amy are introverts in some way and I grew up I was super shy growing up in high school even through all of that like super shy in college I kind of felt like I came out of my shell a little bit more fast yeah I mean I think social media is a very safe place in channel where people even though you are sharing a lot with the world you can still feel like you know you’re kind of protected by this like barrier wall almost in a way and I think that’s how a lot of injuries actually ended up spending a lot of time in building and cultivating audiences in yeah it’s interesting to see like how people can use that fame now because I think even for myself like there’s days I felt uncomfortable going out and like being recognized and kind of weird feeling shit like all like how do you know me like I called my car dealer the other day and the guy looked at my name and he’s like you from the Instagram account on the phone I’m like how do you know what restaurants it’s also cool in the validating in a certain way
school so do you like sharing stories because he said when you move to Sydney you started shadows so I have always done like photography so that was my major for a little bit in college I did in high school so really I enjoyed taking travel photos and then I’ve been I’m a decent writer like I was in high school and all that it’s not something I totally love writing but the photography part I do and I do like sharing travels so I think yeah yeah the long story short yes Andy do you think there’s a difference between sharing a story so like something that actually happened like I rode my bike from Houston Austin verses storytelling where you added more flair to it does that does that make sense storytelling verses sharing this story because I think when I think of storytelling when we whenever I tell stories a friend or family I did some drama ties to the Max everything is so passionate verses just like oh this is what I had for lunch today
that is certainly an art to it I mean I look at a lot of influencers posting stories regularly and there’s some that really hooked me like a lot of influencers lately I’ve been doing that thing when they travel or they’ll like get on the plane in there I guess where I’m going and then you know twelve hours later this year that and it’s almost right away because they are they’re like creating this like preemptive hook just like television shows and other networks DO they want you to come back for that next season or that next episode so I think there is an art to that and I think a lot of influencers are kind of catching on in like ways that they can get their audience to revisit their page and get their viewership overall
and you so you your blog Chelsea is more of a lifestyle travel is that you’ve always been into that you’ve always wanted to travel since your little girl or was it yeah I graduate college I want to go see the world I know I’ve always loved travel and I always always wanted to study abroad in college and it just never Hey just never happened I never could you know I had an apartment or like I had to take this class after I got you know it just it never worked out and I was really disappointed when I graduated and I didn’t know what I was doing and so I went to the working world and I work for big tech company and I hated it so I worked there for a year and I was like it was a very spur of the moment I think I’m gonna go beyond all paired yeah so I did and I’ve never never been there I booked a one way ticket and yeah I lived with the family and I got to travel a lot while I was over there because they didn’t really have living expenses starts the a lot of different places and yeah I don’t get to travel as much now because I do have a full time job outside of blogging but I try
it was it was Australia the pick because of the accident actually I wanted to I really wanted to go to Spain R. because I wanted to become fluent in Spanish but the whole visa laws over there a little difficult and they don’t consider a nanny like it up here a full time job like a real job is you can’t get sponsored if you can get in and extended visa but then you have to be sponsored to get another one but usually before and so it’s kind of like I don’t know what to do and Australia looks great so and yet over to Bali and Thailand yeah yeah
and Rachel you did you always have a passion for food was a something yeah I mean as a young I grab my parents are always really busy into the Dane cook a ton prizes kids and we’re eating out a lot but my hometown is super small and we didn’t have a lot of options so I feel like until I moved to Austin I didn’t really discover that there’s so many local great restaurants in places that you can go on time and so for me out of college at U. T. starting the account I was just incur like encouraging myself to explore a new place every day so the post kind of where my diary of all the places I got to try and the adventures that I went on around us and the
and I didn’t ask this but we’re are you guys originally you guys aren’t from Austin I’m no I’m the women’s area okay no use and then yeah I grew up all over Texas Texas San Antonio Houston Beaumont San Antonio Austin nice any often yet every city Boston Boston yeah yes yes that’s that’s the correct answer you got one so how do you think having a strong online presence helps a brand for a blogger for a food entrepreneur for a tech start up how do you think the strong online presence can help them I think it’s pretty much a vital these days you have to have an online presence you you should have a website as a blogger brands obviously you know in cultivating that can help provide a platform for leaders selling services and products thing here I think like what I did almost with my answer was so an intentional but now you know having the audience it’s really gray and violence like everyone kind of is trying to build that and wants to have that so a lot of brands have been really strong and you know kind of prioritizing social media in their web presence and SCO from the beginning and I think those are brands that we really see taking off and that it you know that was just really important and now there’s a lot of friends too that are finally realizing that and starting on it but it’s something that needs to be prioritized all along and I was really like you and I worked for favor delivery and ran their social media marketing and influencer programs because they were prioritizing that really early they were very innovative companies still are and they took me in and they trusted me as one of their youngest employees to go tell the rest of the company how you’re going to do our digital strategy and so I think it’s it’s super important for brands and for bloggers as we’re also running our own brands to build that audience
I also think it kind of helps a consumer feel more connected to the brand as versus it just being this blank company when they have a personality and actually show you know interesting things in and connect with people on social media I feel you know people are more inclined to buy with them or you know interact with them and like she said like it just you have to have it if you don’t have a website you you don’t exist what I mean like I would if I Google something it didn’t exist but there was no website if you like this is fake I don’t you know I don’t know what I do yeah I mean we have we have the physical world and now we have this very powerful virtual world and if you’re not a one of them you don’t exist in writing together and I think you make a good point having the having a strong online presence is very important because the consumer feels this constant connection with this brand whenever they have a question or whenever they need inspiration they can look him up on Instagram and say oh oh this is how they made this dish this is how this is what they’re doing for the community and I think having that connection is very powerful and obviously there it’s like a pipeline so stop informations always going back and forth I think that’s very neat
do you guys see any cool trends happening and I’m sure you guys go out to eat very often I imagine and you guys good to see all the cool like new foods new brands that come out of Austin but do you see any cool trends happening right now with packaged foods or recipes or restaurants or diets I think there’s definitely I mean a huge move away from plastic you know what I mean is great strong girl so that’s been a change for me and got some metal straws now you know no plastic straws in restaurants it’s been and I know a lot of people are sizing a little bit harder to criticize lease I see I see bloggers kind of criticizing companies that aren’t doing sustainable methods too much plastic and and all that kind of thing and I also think there’s a big push toward more local like people are supporting low especially Austin everyone in Austin is so proud of our city which I love I love that there’s that push and so those are kind of the ones yeah and there again because they’re great I definitely noticed too that a lot of restaurants are making this movement you appreciate their staff a lot more I’m Shasta really getting the spotlight right now it’s like shows like shelf stable and you know not even stop at like locally if you look at a restaurant when they’re opening now they want their staff to be a partner and owner into the forefront and they’re taking really great care of those people within their business because they realize like that is the lifeline and not you know the most important part is the fear that we’re going to be creating and kind of making that food more artistic and that way bers table is a restaurant that opened this past year but they’re the first restaurant in Austin to give full benefits to all of their staff really so yeah I even like the waiters and stuff they’re getting benefits so that’s also is awesome yeah yeah I think the guy really loves me and yeah I think yeah
I’ve seen them a lot of my friends who are chefs in Houston they have thousands of followers on Instagram and I started realizing that being a chef now is like being a rock star yeah is that the I mean these people are getting notoriety and respect for what they’re creating just like other artists have for years and it’s nice to finally have that for France on food and I think Instagram and social media as kind of almost helps with that because now we’re able to see you know what is the Facebook like before we go ahead and even though it sounds like that of a plate should look so nicely presented it’s really kind of created this move may and made a chef almost like an artist yeah I love that
what you’ll seen any like and this may be a silly question but are you seeing any new diets like the keto diet or the gluten free diet is that still is all that is million I think they’re so trendy IVR for what I think that a lot of people are starting to learn and even with some of these kids coming out I won’t say they’re all like amazing like I really well and things like that I haven’t even tried a lot of them but I do think the sensitivities in people being more aware of what foods are causing them to have certain issues or you know to get headaches or to get tired throughout the day so people being aware of their own bodies and you know it’s a gluten or is it just eating too many carbs at lunch makes you tired I’m like am I actually getting sick or you know how precautionary do you need to be about certain foods you’re consuming and so I really see people just being smarter in general over now about what they’re consuming and I feel like I don’t know I would love if keto is on its way out I’m like I think that diet juicing diets like that it’s like okay they’re very specific and I don’t think they work for everyone things that everybody tries them when they become trendy and then they’re like they’re seeing results are not like some of those dates can be really unhealthy for you because you had out certain nutrients that you need yeah with with with my brand I’m working with this media company and they’re urging me like put keno on everything else like what what’s the what’s keto and but it’s I I do get the channel into this crazy like fan base of it maniacs which has been helpful but I have this conflict because they want me to get the certificate that’s two thousand dollars to for little stamp to put on my jar and I’m like it’s already kia why do it anyways
so it’s it’s kind of the dive into the nitty gritty stuff now that I have two experts here on the show I would love to get your opinion on it from or I guess your outlook on the what does a great online presence look like for you all like what when you look in the neck an account brand what is a good online presence look like yeah I mean I think you have to look beyond the feed like you can look at someone’s Instagram and that thing that’s happening a lot right now I think it’s like the perfect filters in the perfect theme that flows together and like that’s been something that is almost like I feel like every blogger’s kind of started to DO and or so you see that shift you away from that where like Gen Z. came out with that there is like a study done and they said that they no longer support the perfectly curated Instagram feed and I kind of I like loaded away because I was like well I’ve never felt like my most perfect either but I was feeling that certain pressure to look and feel a certain way so I think you know what matters more is kind of the authentic voice behind each post and if you’re calling someone regularly you actually start to like learning pick up on that and like what kind of person is this and what are they sharing that’s a value like for my account particular I don’t wanna get too too personal of my audience because I’m still trying to just mostly sure like restaurant staff but you know there’s also this push to like be in some of the photos and be this personality invoice so I’ve kind of had to find like the right amounts to share where I feel like people no need to a degree in trust me but really they’re just getting kind of their food news and it’s coming from
do you think it’s like almost like building a character for the account like this is the type of account because on my account I just throw whatever the hell on that and we were like no actually you can’t put a picture of you and then this and whatever but is having an account like designing the character and just staying focused in the character or is there’s no rules or what would you think I think it you kinda have to do it do you like what feels authentic for you I definitely struggle with that the making sure everything flows nicely and I used to I used to be worse about it and just obsess you know planing that looked great but when you really think about it you know the the followers that you have now they’re probably not going to look at your profile there probably scrolling and just one good content in general so that’s certainly something that I’ve been like trying to get over but I think it’s you know it kind of is to who you are like and I need to fit your brand so if your brain is not that’s perfectly polished brand then use provision have a perfectly polished Instagram you know I think it should be authentic and I think that’s the big thing right now is that people want authentic falling
no so this I like that you say that that you know foot be authentic to yourself and that’s what you should be representing but my next question is what do you think online consumers want to see and feel from from a good blogger a good account very good feed I think they want something of value I mean whatever you’re talking about whether it be travel or food or even fashion site there’s a reason that these influencers have cultivated these followings and I think fashion is a great example in the sense that like there’s certain fashion bloggers I like to that are really big now and when I really analyzed like what they were doing and why they were so successful and able to sell so many things I like to know and through these affiliate links they were sharing just very specific content that was of value like one of them was a deal hunter and she found all the trendy items for a fourth of the cost of what you would buy them you know designer style and looked almost exactly identical and you can see why people would want that contact and same with food it’s like I really have to go out there and find like what is the new place opening that is actually really good and they have great service everything’s on point people are going to want to go there they’re doing something unique and different and those are the places that I really want to highlight and add value for me every day Austin diner
and do you think so it sounds like that’s more important than if you buy through my Instagram you’ll save two dollars on this product it’s more of like actually I actually consumer actually wants to be connected with this brand yeah I mean a two dollar coupon code I was talking to a PR firm earlier this week and just advising and consulting and I was like you know like two dollars doesn’t always move the needle for everyone like I understand why a brand must use that promo code as a tracking measure but if you really want to track success give something valuable so you know maybe five dollars maybe it’s ten dollars that moves the needle for that product probably depends on the overall value of it and you know I don’t know but yeah I’m like a you have to make sure that the deals that you’re putting out there or something that incentivizing people are gonna want and they’re gonna jump on yeah but I think I think the underlying message there is just to have a sense of messages that users can connect with yeah I make sure their products something that you believe and you know that you and actually use in real life that makes it authentic yeah because
I see I see accounts like the sponsored accounts or whatever that pop up and it’s I click on they have like two hundred likes and I click on them and they have fifty thousand followers and it’s just like I don’t know overpaid imagery like you get sixty percent off your first month subscriptions like what this yeah it’s cool to save money but that’s not I’m not feeling it I’m not filling out this out like this is gonna work yeah it is a subscription that you have for the rest of the year that you forget to cancel yeah thinking all the time
what about logo design is that like so I focus all this time and energy on making sure my logo and my packaging’s nice does that do do do people now have to think like how’s this going to look in front of the camera and how is the slogan a look in front of on someone’s telephone is that something of an entrepreneur should be focusing on I mean probably but I feel like a logo like for a food packaging it looks good in person it’s probably going to look good in photos and online but I think that’s huge I mean I still buy things from the logo winds are do everything on the books under ten dollars yeah I was gonna say for product and it definitely matters Milo yeah for my like personal brand was designed probably like four years ago and hasn’t changed much and I made it and paints that’s all I’m created like a fine I live in that color and I was like that’s all it needs to be and then when my website designer came and he just like made it higher resolution video basically stuck with the original design that I thought so so I guess the logo on the packaging as long as it looks good in real life it’ll probably translate pretty well I think so through the phone
okay cool cool cool and we might have touched on this but do online consumers want to see giver giveaway is wanna see collaborations between different brands is that something that’s popular that you’ll see that works I think so I mean I do I do giveaways someone often with brands I think yeah because I mean the thing is like do the brands like it when when you do the giveaways they’re usually the ones that want to do it yeah because you know it’s usually to enter you have to follow and so they get followers then you get followers and that helps but a lot of times you actually get something pretty cool out of it like you know and you’re not forced to enter it so yeah I think like most social audiences like that too because it’s the way that they can you know entered away and everybody wants a chance to win something well and I would just say like when brands reach out to me I really want to think about like what that prize is and if it’s going to drive you know enough entries and be exciting because I’ve had giveaways with five thousand entries and I’ve had giveaways with like fifty you know thank god but the fifty followers
okay so again having to experts on here how and I know we can talk about this for hours but we don’t have hours so how does one create a strong authentic growing online food presents so out of all the brands elves worked with think of the food ones and what are some key things you see for like the successful food brands and I can’t think of any off the top of my head other than like topo Chico or Wendy’s is it important to pick a certain outlet is important to test all of them how it’s yeah I mean I think a million cold brew good pop that I’m not a mill they’re all kind of local brands that have done this really really well and now you see chameleon cold brew is gone national and they’re doing some pretty big promotions that with influencers in New York this year and they’ve kind of always prioritize social strategy but in combination with a bunch of other things that they’re doing events locally they’re doing you know obviously Facebook ads but they’re really advertising across the spectrum which I think is important yeah and their strategy yes so I I I do think that going into multiple outlets is always a good call and then seeing which ones work best and then reallocating the money but how if a new brand is coming up to you guys and asking for advice is there a specific outlets you would sound like just focus on Instagram for now or or you should just do you to inject new recipes is there anything specific I think it depends on the brand yeah depends on their budget to I mean yeah I really like if you are in your Brandon you are strapped for budget like thinking of creative ways to get out there there’s still are low entryways to deal you know a local event and invite influencers or like I do think that these events that people are trying to DO and experience all marketing is so vital right now and you can do that in correlation with involving influencers and people so you know having a party had influencers come out they share the amplify and that doesn’t cost you a ton of money and it’s a great way to get you know won the public there to try the product but also in these influencers that you’re hoping will try and fall in love with their products that’s like I would say the first entry step before you start pouring you know tons of money into paying for poster paying for ads that just get it in the hands of the people that you know have a little party and bring people in yeah
and being marketers is it a good idea to cast a wide net and see what comes in or just focus on I’m just gonna talk to these food people or I’m just gonna talk to the chefs are a little bit of both I think you should be intentional two degrees so definitely like don’t just cast a super wide nat one because when people do start responding like you might not have a strategy very specific to like crews responding to they’re gonna be all over the place like maybe picking food influencers out first in you know reach out to a few like see who responds and then if you don’t get enough responses maybe find some other people that are similar that you think would spread the good word free owned by yeah I would be intentional in your region personalized it still if you’re reaching out to too broad of a spectrum you can lose that personal touch and relationship that you can then create with them because also if this is your first time working with influencers like the relationship part is so important like brands like good pop and chameleon I mentioned really worked with us from the very beginning they started doing influencer before influencer is really even a thing and so you know it’s like those are the first ones that come to mind for me and that I still work with and support now and do the same narrow narrow focus I yeah I probably do more widely for myself because it’s like travel and and that kind of thing can reach wider in a rental house mostly Austin food and so that’s a little bit more local so if you’re trying to keep the local thing then stay local but if it’s a night nationwide then yeah I got what again it it just depends there’s never a black and white right or wrong answer with social and just kind of depends on your goals what you’re doing and yeah
okay and yet and I thought about that question because when I first started my brand I’m sick who’s who’s your target market who’s your consumer I want everybody at once and then you realize like you start testing all these things out and you’re like well all my money’s coming from over here why don’t I just focus on these people and it’s it’s a it’s funny hearing entrepreneurs and founders and people who are running companies always like I want this needs to be everywhere worldwide and you just everyone’s my customer cycle a coca Cola took a hundred years to be coca Cola from a son on a narrow niche might be a good idea but it seems like we’re on the same page there so good no how should how consistent should people be with their social media you said earlier that the trend is leaving like having the same filter on every photo so I want to talk a little bit about consistency being active being engaging can you speak a little bit about that yeah
I think insistence is it out it doesn’t mean filters necessarily like I think you should be posting out like I’m a pretty normal ray every week like I post almost seven times a week like one per day sometimes I miss the days so maybe like on average six but I’m still sharing content very regularly with my audience and you know if I do take a break like sometimes you can notice a drop in engagement and I mean if you’re totally burnt out like take a week off whatever but I do think that the inconsistent with that content that you’re sharing and making sure fallers at like I also posted on the same time everyday so I post early evenings I’ve seen that work really well for me if it’s a weekend Imus in the morning just because I know people might be out about later in the day but yeah is is once once a day and I I think I agree with you there but once a day is probably a good rule of thumb to have just so it pops up once a day on someone’s phone yeah Hey you yeah you stay on people’s minds when they’re on their feet every you see people do like for post today for seven days straight or is that hello yeah what do you think the the users would get annoyed L. how to present in a lot of moms do that like friends and all of those again so right after family gatherings like twenty five days in a row this is not I mean just think about if you’re putting out four of his today like the likelihood of someone seeing all four of those and you’re kind of like posting over your own content at that point so that you know somebody on the cheek checks instrument today might only see one I am full of people who puts that much yeah yeah yeah there’s the annoyance yeah not my aunts though no plans is that too much the U. S.
and then being active as in like I guess engaging should you be replying to comments to you replying to messages how important is that I am replying to comments on your own photo is huge because it helps your engagement and then with the algorithm of Instagram it’ll show it’s more people so that’s huge messages probably is a brand yeah and I get overwhelmed by direct messages sometimes and I’ll have thirty sitting in there that I like yes sorry get overwhelmed then again you guys are you guys are actual humans doing this verses like if if my brands doing it it’s it’s a company yeah right but yeah I would I would imagine if you get some yeah I’m in customer service from a brand perspective you should answer all your like hopefully it made them want to buy from you and and same with influencers I think we should answer all the messages I do the same though it’s like sometimes you get a lot in your yeah me so yeah and those are like weird so I just don’t yes there’s a lot of weird ones so if I give you the answer they’re asking a very specific question up like okay here’s two words and then the first thing that’s like someone asking me a question like that I can help with then yes
I I totally do it might be a day or two later but like if it’s a weird thing I don’t yeah I did want to ask you what’s the weirdest thing has happened on a on your account like has ever got what you’ve done is I’m sure like weird offers like come to my restaurant and I’ll do whatever it means you are free to all your family how how are you doing here hello this well whatever whatever you’re comfortable with well I’m just like what do you want to let’s keep it between P. G. thirteen in R. K. this is like when I first started out and I was like you know get new followers and I wasn’t used to and stuff and I I had this guy messaged me from another country I don’t remember where and he sent me a picture of calamari and then his deck thank before the filter the pictures to it was built a B. and I was like what on earth so I don’t understand why I do this do that anyways but the thing about me most is why did Justin calamari first clearly the plate again he’s got a couple of those it’s been almost two years since my last good younger both the and with the which I sort the F. he’s going to get this by this is gonna be the point of that clip on Instagram the twenty okay well that was definitely a weird story after we’re done with this one here more
the content should people focus again let’s keep in mind food brands and CBG companies should we be focusing on photos recipes videos definitely no no Dick pics Mari but I would recommend yeah what what do you think she would be doing it all do videos work better our video sexier there’s a huge price for video right now that’s like the big buzz word and everyone’s watching video but if you’re not doing it what are like if it’s some people I feel like it’s forced brands they they hear videos the new thing and they feel like they have to do video and it it just doesn’t work for that brand then don’t do that you know it’s a lot of work to do a video and so I think photos is fine but I also think switching it up you know there are some consumer you know package goods they do a great job of doing like fun little like stop motion videos and you know recipes that do the kind of stop motion those are cool but I think switching it up and you know keeping it not the same always when yours we just said that but I think it keeps it interesting yes do you think do you think having a video and a recipe is pretty engaging or maybe just a photo in a recipe just a photo and a common do you think like I think what the recipe if you’re gonna do that like go to your website too and have that recipe live somewhere so that you can share it and then people can go back to it you know later because I think if you’re actually gonna use our SP it’s probably not gonna be in the moment that you see it really they’re gonna need to be about all this stuff and make it so I would just have that content be something like more for blood but I do think that it’s valuable content that you’re giving to your audience and so that can be greatly she said videos a lot of work so don’t exhaust your resources if you have a social content creative team like when I worked at favor we had you know eight people on a content team and so we were able to actually create a lot of great content engage Jennings for our followers but if you don’t have that in your smaller brand like you know do what you can but don’t try to force video yeah we we can be scrappy right we can if we have an iPhone ten we can film yeah yeah yeah in some rock and I think rod does better on Instagram and social media I mean I think people don’t need the most yeah I agree I con get content that that’d India so you guys for that you can use that as an excuse anymore I don’t have a three thousand dollar camera yeah yeah use your camera and of the people to keep pounding that in my house like do do you have an iPhone just pull that out and the raw the raw is authentic and people connect with that and like that and you come a little bit more vulnerable and I don’t know people connect with a lot better
what about being clear with your message how important is that because I I feel like sometimes I’m not clear enough but sometimes I’m too wordy is it important to be clear or will people see the image and understand yeah I mean I think especially when you get more organized here with your posting in your scheduling things out like having a clear message and getting different points across in each of your posts can be really got it also adds more value I think we talked about earlier people are going to follow when there’s value there so if you’re a message that week is about a new flavor of your product the end you’re incorporating that particular flavor interest being that I think that’s great and then maybe the next week you’re talking about you know different flavor but it’s not a recipe it now it’s just you know talking about I don’t know where you would take that products and where you have a picnic or you know showing in a different setting yeah and I was gonna ask should we be short and sweet when we’re posting stuff and describing things and then I I see your posts and you have like extensive long thing your silence yes I have a ton of engagement so it is like to keep it shorter I have found that I’m like okay I can’t get everything and in a short little bit but I think of every single one is so long like I’m not gonna read and like I’m not gonna read you know if every post a super long but if it’s you know you have one that ends up being super long when normally it’s pretty concise I feel like people are like oh this must be important and more likely to pay attention but if it’s I’m I’m just really scroll the returns tired thing I’m probably going to unless it’s really a story and yeah I yeah exactly I my mind is is a real story
before before posting in should we set goals or should we like remind ourselves why we’re posting because sometimes you know when I when I started my account which is it is a big but when I would post and I would like to finish addition and take a picture and posted and have no idea what I was doing I just posted and I’d always just post food pictures what should I be opportunistic is a word I think it is but it should I’d like to say look I should put some recipe videos because then people will do this recipe and take pictures should we have goals when when we’re using social media should we just be natural just take pictures of whatever yeah I mean when you can plan it out it’s obviously I think better over on Saturday because you’re going to you know you could come up with a campaign where use this hashtag and share your moments using this product and at the end of that you’re giving away a prize or something you don’t have to do that but he was saying like that could be a fun engaging way to get then your followers to come back and actually you know put the like they’re participating in something by phone yeah well I mean and then you can have you can measure those results right yeah yeah I think on that on that part though like I I know I do and I’m sure rated as well get caught up in in the likes game and like how many likes you get and so I feel like a yes it’s good to set goals but to not be too hard on yourself because sometimes you know whether it’s a weird day or whatever I had photos that I’m like this is going to kill it’s gonna be great I’ll and then it’s like a tedious life and I’m like cool like they’re really bad for self esteem and you might be going away because and I was testing they’re saying it’s like for mental health there likes being a concern in people you know judging their content just off like than that you know likes can even be inflated they can be part yeah these days so it’s really something that I think it’s room as a platform is looking on there like if you know if we can’t control the Senate’s making users upset then let’s take it away and it’s not the most important thing the content should be standing out above that in the comments and the conversations like I think those are still great to see but yeah like they’re just they’re arbitrary I mean I think it’s good to be like oh I hope this you know reaches this amount of people that do not like a totally kill yourself over I didn’t get this bike I did hit this number or you know I’m under a thousand likes this photo tanked it’s terrible you know control the other day and some photos and I’m like this woman named Michael and it’s got like all these lights and lying okay well one thing is of of no
so I have a rule of thumb which is I would like to get ten percent of my followers to like my picture and I think if ten percent of followers like your picture then it’s an authentic account because like I said earlier you have the account with fifty thousand followers and they have a hundred likes prediction unlike in the winter find those fifty thousand followers it’s not they’re not real but another thing and give me some advice on this one of the things I notice is every time I post a picture on my companies page that has me in it or people in it way more like yes we more comments we more legs yeah and I have this issue is like well I don’t wanna keep posting pictures of myself on this company but I get way more engagements what do I do as well why does that happen I think it’s part of you know having that kid that personal connection to something I know when I was doing mostly just travel photos I’ve seen amazing places and I post that but then I post one of me and it does way better like me in the photo does infinitely better than just a pretty landscape because eight people connect somehow I think it’s like the personal like connection kind of thing you can’t really connect with you know a landscape yeah it’s kind of the reason I rebranded my account about a couple years ago just it was mostly food from the beginning and then I decided like well you know these people that are in the photos and brands were wanting that too they want a personality they want to see someone and you know demonstrating their products so just you know played a chips on its own was off that is great but like what if it’s a Superbowl party and there’s a big group of people enjoying those chips like that’s more inviting that’s where I want to be yeah but I mean so let’s say we have a brand who does potato chips the bag of potato chips packaging is nice yeah looks good but if it’s the back of the table chips in the middle the Superbowl party people are like oh this is a damn good bag of potato can’t wait more authentic
suite hello how should this brand’s approach you bloggers when we want when we want help or advice or collaborations what’s the best way you all recommend we know we know not to do the calamari your best email is the best way to reach out I think like we were saying earlier with a DM and we get a lot of that and so yeah it’s hard you lose track searching through DM’s if you don’t respond right away it’s hard to even find that message again so used email the professional personalized message people that Hey Austin all the time in my emails and I like the obviously don’t know my name so personalize that unit and I think when you’re you know introduce your products obviously tell them the details tell them if you’re local and you’re trying to get local people like that might be a cool job because like people love to support local in Austin so I definitely recommend that and then I would just say you can put some ideas out there and ask don’t be too specific or like you know gives set parameters of like this is exactly what we want it like yes or no I’m especially if you’re asking to trade you know a product to be you know the understanding that this person is making a business out of this so you know consider maybe putting so much about it but if you don’t have budget you can also be transparent about that and just offer to send a product for review your you know kind of see what they’d be willing to deal because we we the idea is to bring value to you guys as well right so like does just that Hey please post my brand on your nose should should we be sending you guys free samples coming up like you know I saw this campaign I want to do something like that can you help me design something that’s centered action for sure I mean if you’re reaching out to influencers who might not have had your product before I mean obviously they need to try before they say they’re gonna hosted anyways so just offered to send samples and then kind of see where it goes from there I mean you can encourage them to share story on boxing or whatever people do that but I mean don’t necessarily expect that I kinda let them you know experience that product and then keep the conversation going the first influencers that you reach out to you should be the ones that you’re trying to build relationships with more long term so you can keep working together and would you say try to find influencers who have kind of the same audience as you do because at first I reached out to anybody like in no answers for example and then also you know maybe I should focus on like a ruler or keto people or you know south Americans right should we should we focus on the floor yeah I mean anything about in what is their demographics use so you might not know off the top of your head that you can guess that somebody you know like myself is posting food in very specifically in Austin is going to have the audience that lives in that city and not you know cares about food in restaurants and stuff so looking at their content you might be able to tell a little bit more and I know you probably have a little bit of an international audience I also got on Austin to sense though what what are the
what what are some perks of working in Austin which is such a crazy for saying such a tech start up hub like what are some perks you guys lots of free samples cool as such in the past couple of years I’ve noticed that a lot more a bigger brands are coming in Austin so being a blogger that’s really exciting and just overall for our economy like people are investing in Austin as a place to launch their products like a lot of away luggage is a great example of a brand that’s really big in trendy and I think they launched in like eight cities where they did stores and when it’s past your lunch group here for a couple months into combat so seeing really big brands like that coming in and it’s really cool it’s great it’s provides business opportunities for as as blockers they’re pouring money into the Austin economy and supporting so that’s awesome and I get some of the favorite question I
want my favorite question I wanted to ask and we touched a little bit on this earlier but how how can obviously our brand is on Instagram that’s what it’s representing us but how does the person behind the Instagram account manage vulnerability when they’re sharing content like is this picture good enough is this picture gonna get like enough likes is this recipe going to be good enough hello what are some tips to manage that for for people who are starting these brands I I mean I just kind of developed a tough skin like it sucks at first I started mine on a on my personal account and so I’ll like I could see people and following me because I was posting more and like really hurt my feelings I used to take it so personally and you know if you you get a nasty comment you know it does hurt but you kind of get used to it but like you know and all right yeah yes I realize yeah doesn’t define you someone saying that like there are gonna be people out there that are going to be credible and control you on the internet it doesn’t define what you’re doing like for every mean comment there’s probably twenty or more probably more but you know generally I mean I like sometimes only in black people if they just are blatantly rude it’s like okay there’s no place for hate on this account and I’m sorry like I if I lose a follower everything thank that’s fine by me is it is it does it help to re read all the good comments all the positive comments yes as I eat as much as that I don’t like getting somebody DM spelling when someone DM’s mayor like messages me and it’s like you know you’re whatever really helped me like I love you if I get an encouraging message like that like that definitely makes you feel really good and I like those but I don’t I don’t tend to get too many new ones yeah but yeah yeah yeah they’re few and far between it is talk that like it’s easier said than done being like just brushed it off but it’s kinda if you DO in layers using time to put yourself out there like that and it comes with the territory it doesn’t mean it’s OK that yeah are you selling the you will develop a little I guess because you’re behind the screen just go out there try it be vulnerable just posted see if it works don’t be so scared to not share something yeah let it define you like what you’re sharing you shared it for a reason you can only stand yeah I recommend every time someone although I delete the comments yeah they call them bad stuff on them yeah GQ well I think I think that’s pretty much everything he does overloaded US on beautiful information that we need and it’s stuff that we don’t really know how to do this having a great online presence has become like a full time very hard job and for founders and entrepreneurs it’s like shit I’m piled under work and now I have to know everyone’s telling me this is a second job so that’s
I think the information he has provided was very helpful you guys have any shout outs or anything we wanna any follow I am assuming calamari and please again we have the Chelsea Bancroft one tell of an adventure follow her on Instagram very cool content and Rachel Holton Austin foods Graham again on Instagram as she has kickass food pictures and I think that’s it thank you all for coming and I had a wonderful time yeah thank you thank you Rachel until C. for being on the show you guys make the stuff looks super easy which is how I know how hard you guys are working we’ll have links in the show notes to their social accounts you can follow along that venture and food and travel also Chelsea host a podcast called a positive influence which goes even more in depth into the world of blogging influencers and marketing so make sure to give her show listen the packing tasting includes me axle of a producer Mariah gossip an audio engineer Jake Wallace thank you everyone that found the media for your support make sure you guys have subscribed to the show so you never miss an episode also if you’re really enjoying it you should totally leave us a review on iTunes it helps other folks on the show for behind the scenes and more photos you guys can follow us at packing taste podcast thanks for listening